Elastic fluid turbine



J y 8, 1953 c. E. KENNEY ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE Filed Aug. 13, 1949Patented July 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELASTIC FLUID TURBINEApplication August 13, 1949, Serial No. 110,180

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to elastic fluid turbines and has for itsprincipal object the provision of new and improved apparatus of thistype.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide new and improvedvalve gear for operating the inlet valves of a steam turbine.

As the size of turbines has increased, the valve gear has been madeheavier and the force required to move it has become correspondinglylarger. This has made the old practice of mounting the valve gear on theturbine casing unthe turbine casing without danger of overstress- 1 ingthe casing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a valve gear including acamshaft which may be mounted on a turbine casing and which will obviatethe possibility of the camshaft binding in its bearings when the turbinecasing expands unevenly.

Other objects will appear hereinafter as the description of theinvention proceeds.

The novel features of the invention and how the objects are attainedwill appear more fully from this specification and the accompanyingdrawings showing one embodiment of the invention and forming a part ofthis application, and all of these novel features are intended to bepointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a turbine embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the turbine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2looking in the direction of the arrows and Fig. 4 is a section taken onthe line IV1V of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

The turbine herein illustrated as mbodying this invention comprises aturbine casing slidably supported by a pedestal 2 provided with a base3. Motive fluid is supplied to the turbine through a conduit 4 and iscontrolled by valve means, here shown as cam operated inlet valves I ofa type well known in the art. The inlet valves 1 are operated by a valvegear 8, which is supported by a supporting member 9 and actuated byactuating means, here shown as a fluid servomotor II, cooperating withthe base 3.

The inlet valves 1 are identical and each may comprise a valve casing I2carried by the turbine casing l and enclosing a valve body (not shown)biased toward closed position by means of a spring (not shown) andcarried by a rod [3 slidably mounted in the valve casing 12. One end ofa lever 14 is pivotally connected. at [6 to a lug H formed on the valvecasing l2; the medial portion of the lever slidably engages the rod l3and the other end of the lever carries a roller l8 which is movableunder the influence of the valve gear 8. r

The valve gear 8 is here shown as including camshaft means which maycomprise shafts l9, 2|, 24. The shafts l9 and 2| are journaled inbearings 22 carried by the valve casings l2 and. are provided with earns23 of any suitable shape which ngage the rollers I8 of the levers l4 andact to move the levers i4 about the pivots l6 and open or close theinlet valves 1 when the shafts I 9, 25 are rotated. The shaft 24 isjournaled in bearings 26 and 21 carried by the supporting member 9secured to the base 3. The shafts [9, 2| and 24 are connected byflexible torque transmitting connection means, here shown as flexiblecouplings 28, and are adapted to be rotated by gearing 29 carried by thesupporting member 9 as will more fully appear.

The supporting member 9 is here shown as a column 3! bolted to the base3 and provided with two laterally extending brackets 32, 33. Thebrackets 32, 33 are here shown as welded to opposite sides of the column3| and extending in parallel planes toward the inlet valves 1. Thebearings 26, 21 which carry the shaft 24 are carried by the outboardends of the brackets 32 and 33, respectively.

The gearing 23 for rotating the shafts l9, 2!, 24 may comprise a pinion34 secured to the shaft 2 and meshing with a gear segment 36 carried bya shaft 31 journaled in bearings 38 which are secured to the top of thecolumn 3|. A lever 39 integral with the gear segment 36 is pivotallyconnected at its free end to a piston rod 40 of the fluid servomotor ll,here shown as bolted to the column 31. Control means (not shown) controlthe movements of the servomotor H.

The flexible torque transmitting connection means 28 for connecting theshafts l9, 2! and 24 may be of any suitable construction and are hereshown as comprising a pair of levers 42 keyed to the respective ends ofthe shafts to be coupled, each lever having a bifurcated offset endportion 43 provided with a hole M to receive a bolt 45. The levers 42are mounted on the shafts to be coupled in such a manner that thebifurcated ends 43 of both levers d2 lie in a common plane perpendicularto the axis of the shafts to be coupled. A link ii, formed with aspherical socket 48 near each end and having a ball 49 disposed in eachsocket 48 in articulating relation with the link ll, is disposed in thenotches 50 formed by the bifurcation of the ends 43 of the lever 52. Theballs 49 are held rigid relative to the levers 42 by means of the bolts45 and the link 47 is permitted to move relative to the balls 49 and thelever 32 within limits determined by the clearance between the link 41and the sides of the notches 5B.

In operation, the piston rod 49 of the fluid servomotor H will move thelever 39 up or down thus rotating the gear segment 36 about the shaft 37causing the pinion carrying shaft 24 to turn. The shaft 24 drives theshafts l3, 2| through the couplings 28 and causes the inlet valves I tobe opened or closed as hereinbefore described. It will be apparent thatvertical forces exerted by the servomotor i i on the gearing 29 will becarried by the supporting member 9 and that torque will be transmittedto the shafts l9, 2!. The shafts I9, 2! will transmit to the bearings 22a force the magnitude of which is equal to the torque carried by theshafts divided by the effective radius of the coupling 28. Since thebearings 22 are carried by the valve casings [2, each valve I and itsassociated bearing will act as a unit and the force transmittedtherefrom to the turbine casing will be determined by the magnitude anddirection of the force exerted by the shaft on the bearing. It will beapparent that this force will be relatively small as compared with theforce exerted by the servomotor H. Thus large actuating forces can beutilized without danger of overstressing the turbine casing I.

It will also be apparent that the journaling of each of the shafts l9,2!, 24 in independent sets of bearings 22, 26, 21 and the connection ofthe shafts with the flexible couplings 28 will pre vent uneven expansionof the turbine casing I from causing binding of the shafts l9, 2!, 2 intheir respective bearings and will permit relative movement, due toexpansion and contraction between the casing i and the supporting member9 to take place with no binding of the shafts 29, 2|, 24 in the bearings22, 26, 21.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatthe illustrated embodiment of the invention provides a new and hamproved elastic fluid turbine and accordingly accomplishes the objects ofthe invention. On the other hand, it will also be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that the illustrated embodiment of the invention maybe variously changed and modifled, or features thereof, singly orcollectively, embodied in other combinations than those illustrated,without departing from the spirit of the invention, or sacrificing allof the advantages thereof, and that accordingly the disclosure herein isillustrative only and the invention is not limited thereto.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In an elastic fluid turbine, the combination comprising: a turbinecasing; a base supporting said casing; valve means carried by saidcasing for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto; camshaftmeans having at least a portion rotatably mounted on said casing inoperating relation with said valve means for causing valve opening andclosing movement upon rotation thereof; supporting means cooperatingwith said base for supporting at least one end of said camshaft means;and operating means cooperating with said base for rotating said atleast one end of said camshaft means.

2. In an elastic fluid turbine, the combination comprising: a turbinecasing; a base supporting said casing; cam operated valve means carriedby said casing for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto;camshaft means including a plurality of substantially ccaxially arrangedcamshafts rotatably mounted on said casing in operating relation withsaid valve means for causing valve opening and closing movement uponrotation thereof and flexible torque transmitting connection meansbetween said camshafts; supporting means cooperating with said base forsupporting an end portion of said camshaft means; and operating meanscooperating with said base and with said end portion for rotating saidcamshafts.

3. In an elastic fluid turbine, the combination comprising: a turbinecasing; a base supporting said casing; valve means carried by saidcasing for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto; supportingmeans carried by said base, a shaft having a first portion rotatablymounted on said casing in operating relation with said valve means forcausing valve opening and closing movement upon rotation thereof and asecond portion rotatably mounted on said supporting means; operatingmeans cooperating with said base for rotating said second portion ofsaid shaft; and flexible torque transmitting connection means forconnecting said first and second portions of said shaft.

4. In an elastic fluid turbine, the combination comprising: a turbinecasing; a base supporting said casing; cam operated valve means carriedby said casing for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto;camshaft means comprising a plurality of substantially coaxiallyarranged shafts, at least one of said shafts being rotatably mounted onsaid casing in operating relation with said valve means and another ofsaid shafts being rotatably supported by said base; flexible connectionmeans between said shafts; and means cooperating with said base forrotating said camshaft means.

5. In an elastic fluid turbine, the combination comprising: a turbinecasing; a base supporting said casing; cam operable valve means carriedby said casing for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto;camshaft means comprising a plurality of shafts rotatably mounted onsaid casing in operating relation with valve means for causing valveopening and valve closing movement upon rotation thereof and flexibletorque transmitting connection means between said camshafts; supportingmeans cooperating with said base for supporting at least one end portionof at least one of said shafts; and operating means cooperating withsaid base for rotating said at least one end portion.

6. In an elastic fluid turbine, the combination comprising: a turbinecasing; a base sup porting said casing; cam operated Valve means carriedby said casing for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto; asupporting member carried by said base; a plurality of shafts, at leastone of said shafts being rotatably mounted on said casing in operatingrelation with said cam operated valve means for causing valve openingand valve closing movement upon rotation thereof and another of saidshafts being rotatably supported by said supporting member; flexibletorque transmitting connection means between each of said shafts;gearing carried by said supporting member for rotating at least one ofsaid shafts; and means cooperating with said base for actuating saidgearing.

7. In an elastic fluid turbine, the combination comprising: a turbinecasing; a base supporting said casing; cam operated valve means carriedby said casing for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto;camshaft means comprising a plurality of substantially coaxial shafts;at least one of said shafts rotatably mounted on said casing inoperating relation with said valve means for causing valve opening andvalve closing movement upon rotation thereof; a supporting membercarried by said base; gearing carried by said supporting member forrotating said camshaft means; flexible torque transmitting connectionmeans between each of said shafts; and means cooperating with said basefor actuating said gearing,

8. In an elastic fluid turbine, the combination comprising: a turbinecasing; a base supporting said casing; cam operable valve means carriedby said casing for controlling the admission of motive fluid thereto;camshaft means comprising a plurality of substantially coaxiallyarranged camshafts rotatably mounted on said casing in operatingrelation with said valve means for causing valve opening and valveclosing movement upon rotation thereof, an actuating shaft coaxial withsaid camshafts, and 'flexible connection means between said shafts; asupporting member carried by said base; at least one bearing carried bysaid supporting member for carrying said actuating shaft; gearingcarried by said supporting member for rotating said actuating shaft andmeans cooperating with said base for actuating said gearing.

CLARENCE E. KENNEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 545,085 Mannesmann Aug. 27, 1895 1,411,992 Doran Apr. 4, 19221,684,919 Keyser Sept. 18, 1928

